Saying Black Lives Matter does not mean that other lives do not. Every life matters.

Well, the last few weeks have been interesting, when riots have occurred during some Black Lives Matter marches, those engaging in horrific behaviour have been termed rioters.  When the far right attack police in London, they are protestors.   

I have had a few interesting discussions on Facebook with an old school friend about BLM.  I would never have considered them to be racist, and to be honest, I do not consider them to be one now.  But they have shared the views of racists like Mark Collett on their timeline. Needless to say, I suspect that this has caused considerable upset despite posts also showing how the police work with all communities.

I do not agree with all of what every BLM supporter says. Most find violence against the police abhorrent, most do not agree with racism against anyone, and most do not agree with the violence and rioting that has taken place with some of the protests.  

When it comes to those in the USA calling to defund the police, they forget what has happened in Britain when the police has been underfunded by the Conservatives since 2010.  Crime has gone up.  The people who want the police to be defunded the most, are those that the police protect us from.  I treat police officers and none that I have met went into into the force (or service as it is called now) wanting to do a terrible job.

But reform is needed to address how people who are not white are treated.  Here it is harder to bring that about as the police has been defunded.  In the USA, there have been several examples of how police brutality is not just whet on black.  Non-white police officers stood by as George Floyd was killed, and non-white police officers were involved with the death in custody of Freddie Gray.

I have worked in high stress situations where you have to make a snap decision based in the information you have, not hindsight.  So I do understand how decisions that would not be made in hindsight were felt to be the appropriate decision at the time.  So unlike many, I do not think that the police officers making those choices when it came to the deaths of Mark Duggan or Jean Charles de Menezes, were wrong BASED ON THE INFORMATION THE OFFICERS KILLING THESE PEOPLE HAD IN THAT INSTANT.  

But as the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd have shown, a lot more needs to happen in the USA.  And we need time and money for the police to improve here in the UK as well.  

Sideshow Bob

Another depressing defeat for Arsenal.  On the weekend, I had predicted the score would be 3-0, but said that it would be to Arsenal.  

When I saw the team line up, with Xhaka playing, I said that we would be down to ten men but that we would win 3-2.  I was right in that he was the first man to be taken off, and David Luiz came on.  He gifted Sterling the first goal (you could argue that the rain played a part) with his attempt to clear the ball allowing The Team That Rhymes With City to score just before half time.  And he brought Mahrez down in the penalty area.  The foul started outside the box, but did not need to continue into it.  And while Mustafi might have been able to get back in time, it did not look likely.  Which meant that after coming on as a sub, he gave away a goal and a penalty and was sent off.  That is four penalties that he has given away, double that of the next closest contender, and no other player has made more errors in the Premier League leading to a goal in 2020.  What a record.     

Which meant I was right about then men as well.  And the picture for this post is for Sideshow Bob.  Assuming he ever puts on an Arsenal shirt again.

Star Wars, or as some call it, A New Hope

Still cannot find my daughters iPhone.  She appears to be coping well.  This evening, the kids spent time together, not watching anything but being nice to each other.  That does not happen a lot.

We also went on a drive to collect the birthday present for my wife.  We put it together (creating the space for it required input from all the family) and my wife loves it.  The drive involved the kids waking up earlier than they normally do and both, despite being warned about his before hand, found this a bit exhausting.  We may need to look at bed times again which have become later for them during lockdown.  I suspect that they will resist any such improvements though.

And of course, there is Star Wars, which we watched earlier in the week.  And I still love it.  It was the remastered version, so there was differences with some of the CGI, we got to see Jabba, in a scene that was not in the original film, and of course, the controversial scene where Han Solo no longer murders the bounty hunter before he is killed, but instead, the bounty hunter shoots first, and misses, despite being across the table.  Needless to say, while most of the improvements do add to the film, the original scene makes more sense.

Last of all, series seven of The Clone Wars appears to involve a clone based on Charlie Sheen.  Have not watched it as much as my son or I would like, but hopefully that is to change on Sunday.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Today was a good day.  I went for a long morning walk with my daughter which knackered her out during it, and me afterwards.  The sad thing is that I have gone on this walk and more in the past with no issues but this was not the case today.  It was great to chat and bond again and I think she liked it as well.

When it came to my son, we bonded while watching Clone Wars.  We are now on the final series, which excites him.  I am going to have to take him to Tub and Cone again, but that means placing an order which means eating earlier.  Dinner today was another amazing meal made by my wife before she had a Zoom school reunion.

And of course, the kids and I watched Rogue One.  Well, my son watched bits of it while playing Animal Crossing.  I do love this film, almost as much as the holy trilogy of the original films.  Well made, it such a shame that episodes seven, eight and nine fall so short of matching up to it.  Probably the darkest of the films, it shows the grey that is absent in most of the other films.  Of course, there is the issue at the end of the film about how The Empire were unable to obtain the location of the rebel base from the prisoners that they would have captured or the data banks of the ship they boarded.  But other than that, no major plot issues.

Star Wars next or as some call it, A New Hope.

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Today was a quiet one.  My wife and I had a romantic morning drive to the shops.  Being in the butchers was interesting as I was sent in as it was quite cold (the weather today has decided it is a bank holiday weekend).  I had to order food while on the mobile phone and did not get too much wrong.  I had spent a lot of the morning before that bonding with my son while watching Clone Wars.  We are on series six, which is a lot darker compared to the first series.  When it comes to the Star Wars sage, it shows how the Jedi become a lot more grey compared to the shining white they claim to be.

After lunch, while my wife got some rest after a stressful week, the kids and I watched Solo.  It is a shame that there is to be no sequel as I rate this film as being either my fourth or fifth favourite Star Wars film.  It was a great way of tying up the issues with the Kessel Run from Star Wars itself as well as how Han got the Millennium Falcon.  As a film, like with how I remember Rogue One, when it comes to the plot and a lack of glaring holes, it is much better compared to episodes seven to nine.

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

We have finished watching Revenge of the Sith.  Which is an interesting take on democracy and what happens when it is bent to deal with a crisis.

Before I get onto that, the kids are well.  My amazing son has started back at school.  His work ethic at home has been lacking and he has been keen to return to school.  Since testing for COVID19 has been available I have been keen for his return as well as if he catches something, it may not mean 14 days in isolation.  But such a decision is a risky one as COVID numbers are going to rise again.

Lock-down is being eased because there is capacity in ITU, not because it is safe.

My daughter has had exam week and has been doing this while at home.  Her iPhone is still AWOL and because of this, she has not been out for the walks she normally goes on.  And she now may not be the tallest child.  It is hard to tell because she will not compare height any more.  But it is close.

Anyway, people across the world are shocked at the actions of a minority of the police in the USA.  Like in all nations, racism exists in the USA.  And this probably was a contributing factor in the death of George Floyd.  People can argue either way if it was or not, but the actions of the police in suffocating him are inexcusable.  Just like the death of Ahmaud Arbery is inexcusable, as was the refusal of the authorities to take action over the way an unarmed jogger was killed until a video of this death was shared on the internet.  Amber Ruffin is one of many black people who have talked about how they have been treated.  But what is surprising is how a minority of the police have been acting towards peaceful protesters.  It is almost like they are obeying instructions to dominate the streets.  Trump has stated that he thinks that armed forces should be involved, something that those forces may disagree on.

Today's speech from President Palpatine.

(Attn: @pattonoswalt ) pic.twitter.com/HWpDFnqgaZ

— Andy Harris (@THEAndyHarris) June 2, 2020

The question is if Trump will respect democracy or decide that it must respect him.

Cycling Sunday with my son

I got my son out on his bike!

Went for a three mile walk in the morning, did some housework (not enough though) and took my son out on his bike.  Just to his school and back, but that is better than doing nothing.